Announcing

The Bible is full of interesting characters, and John the Baptizer certainly qualifies! John the Baptizer is a different person than the Apostle John who wrote the Gospel of John (and 3 other short books of the Bible). Here, we’ll just say John when we mean John the Baptizer.
You would say John was counterculture. He chose a different sort of lifestyle for his specialized mission. The Gospel writer, Matthew, paints the picture:
“John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”  Matthew 3:4-6

People found him out in the wilderness preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” It’s interesting to note that this activity by John was foretold many, many years earlier by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah when he declared, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”  (Isaiah 40:3). Isaiah was foretelling the coming of John who announced the coming of Jesus.

John created quite a stir with what he was saying, and some of the local religious leaders came out to hear what he was preaching. John criticized them (called them a brood of vipers!) because they were so focused on their interpretation of God’s word and their human applications of it. John was warning them that Jesus was going to make a huge change (a new covenant) with his beloved people.

John did not want to bring attention to himself. He wanted, through his message, to bring attention to the coming of Jesus Christ and the great thing he was about to do for the people.

4832 Ponderings:

• What is John’s purpose?
• How is it different from yours?
• Do you believe that you have a mission in life? If so, how do you prepare?
• How do you see God at work in the ordinary events in your life?
• Like John, how can you prepare the way for others?
• What if Jesus told you that you were his personal representative in the world today.  How would that make you feel? (Jesus did say that we would all be his witnesses to the people around us. Acts 1:8)